From the Divine to the Ridiculous

 Your girl invited over Maria, a retired teacher who lives down the street with her daughter and extended family much as Fio lives with her Son L and his extended family. This new friendship is especially important to Fiorella because Maria is fluent in Spanish, which, as you know, Fiorella was chugging away at before the multiple traumas of yesteryear--and it didn't hurt that Maria also likes the way Fiorella arranged and decorated the parlor, although your girl hastened to tell her that even better was to come.

Needless to say, Fio didn't usher her new friend into her studio or show off her bedroom. The studio is slowly coming into shape, but her bedroom, which is really too small for an adult, is overrunning with things like her large pill box, a floor fan, a big bulletin board, two desks, a heavy chest of drawers, and, last but not least, her bed.  If you visit and want to see said bedroom for yourself, ask about the room with a spray of oak leaves on the door.

Hooray! Fiorella is going to get a new mini-freezer soon! Walmart has them on sale.

Not everyone knows Fiorella has moved back to Austin so the sweet woman who bought Fiorella's house has been faithfully re-routing Fio's Christmas cards to her new address.💗

Question: why is a hamburger called a hamburger when it's really a beefburger?

From Crochet to Nada---Sort of a Downer

 For some reason--maybe because she's been going through so many family pictures--Fiorella started thinking about crochet, which she learned to do at her mother's knee, but never taught her own daughter, sadly because it's now easier to buy baby booties than to make them. Oh well, maybe Daughter will take up handiwork when she's older.

Damnation! Your girl will have to teach herself to play the piano all over again. Yep, that one-year hiatus scrambled her music brain.

Texas winter is upon us--no snow, of course--but the temperatures are crisp, and while other trees are just shedding their leaves, the banana tree out back has bit the dust. 

Cork board, cork board--do any of you have an extra thirty-four by twenty-two cork board lying around that you don't need but Fiorella does?

Your girl would like to think that there are many more interesting, exciting, and rewarding instances to come in her life, but so far, it's a nada.

 

 

 

 

Movin' Along

OOOPS! There is nothing left in Fio's mini fridge except two-week-old salmon frosting up more and more every day, which your girl didn't realize is NOT a good sign because she has never in her life before come across a refrigerator that didn't do the job automatically. A loud screech and whimpering sounds will doubtless follow.

At least your girl tackled the drawers in her desk, which itself, for some weird builder's reason, is not inside her room, but across from it. Fiorella didn't finish her clean-out, of course--there were too many years worth of papers dumped into the desk all at once after we moved in--but she did sweep off the top of the desk and clean out two lower drawers. Tomorrow, she'll go through what's left.

Congratulate Fio. She's posted half of her current life on an upright yard-long corkboard and as soon as she gets hold of its mate, will post the rest of it--all so that she can keep track of herself.

The times, they are a-changin'. FiorellaMovin' Along is in the last stages of preparing the parlor for all to enjoy and soon will be able to give more attention to her own bedroom (a closet light) and her studio (rearranging the bookshelves). Wish her well.

Blame it on the way she was reared--Fiorella can be naught but polite to everyone... despite themselves.

 Fiorella wants to live as long Betty White did and, like her model, enjoy every step along the way, no matter what!😁

There are things Fio wants to do and things she has to do, and--dang it--her conscience usually wins out!😒

You want to know how Loony Tunes your girl is? She's concocted a theory that everyone and everything is sentient to some degree and wants to be of good use. Example: whenever your girl went outside, the fallen oak leaves would cry out to her so what could she do but gather the best of them together and concoct the aforementioned window whirlwind, then make a bouquet for her bedroom door out of the leftovers?😊

Going through the mess on top of her desk, Fio found not only the phone number of an old friend, but a cache of Dump Trump buttons, a Father Christmas ornament which didn't make it to the tree, yet another mask, a Duracell battery, almost a whole ream of blank paper, and more and more. Wondering what she'll find when she opens the drawer itself. Garage sale anyone?😕

Going through her desk today has reminded Fiorella of what a firecracker she was--and can still be. Watch out world! Er... will you pay her bail?😢

Taking 2022 in Stride

Now that most of her immediate medical problems have been taken care of, Fiorella would like to have a go at her psychological hangups, old and new. She'd also like to get some good friends locally, reliable transportation, and (sigh) a Soaker Tub all her own. 

When Fio was waiting in line at the Walgreens pharmacy, Fio, being herself, struck up a conversation with the tall, elegantly-dressed older woman behind her who was sporting a sparkling silver mask. It turned out that Brigit was of German origin, but spoke some Russian also, which thrilled Fiorella to the core since at one time, she had sort of spoken both. Nevertheless, we had a great time (in English) laughing about the line up, and if your girl ever see her again, she'll try to get more acquainted. Maybe Brigit could be Fio's first new friend. 

On a more practical note, Fio's going to be calling the company that gave her an estimate on her clothes closet and, if nothing else, she'll get a light put in, which will be quite expen$ive by itself, meaning that raising the bars that are too low and and lowering the bars that are too high will have to wait until later. 

We live in a lucky age for little girls, one in which they can yell their heads off as they run back and forth inside the house. Your girl's own early childhood was spent trying to be quiet most of the day because daddy, who worked the night shift, was sleeping. 

Whoopee--Fio just discovered there are still a couple of bags of clothes in the garage that Fio and Son L brought home from their last trip to Pflugerville. Among them are a cord board pimpled with stickpins and a colorfully quilted bag full of her long-sleeved blouses. What else will she find in the garage tomorrow?

 

 

 

 

 

Actually, A Very Dull Day

 Fio apologizes for yesterday's scrambled post and has rewritten it this morning. All she can blame the mess on is sloppy proofreading and continuing frustration from not being able to get her prescription refills this past week.

Winter has suddenly swept into your girl's neck of the woods. She stepped outside to pick up the newspaper this morning and was hit by a blast of cold air that must have been swept down straight from Alaska. 

Fiorella is happy to announce that today's the day that Son L will be hanging the Japanese wood block prints over the piano in the parlor, which is meaningful because they were given to us by his godmother, who was a pianist, a linguist, and one of your girl's best friends.

Whadda ya know--after a long winter's wait, Fio is going to be able to pick up her prescriptions today. Too bad that she can't show off her mink at the same time. The weather calls for it, but Son L and your girl can't find the furry jacket that Husband and she gave her mother for Christmas a while back. Did Fio put it in local storage after moving her remaining items out of Pfugerville? Or maybe toss it into the attic?

Aside from picking up those pills, Fiorella plans to work on clearing her desk today, and if she has leftover time, she'll work on arranging the contents of the bookshelves of her studio better.

 

 

 

WOW! January 1, 2022

 Your girl, in a better mood than yesterday, finished Scotch-taping the rest of her collection of oak leaves in a whirlwind design on the inside her large front window. They start from one side of the bottom pane to the top, then twist around like a tornado to the topmost pane, then twirl into a spiral, like a question mark. Wonder if anyone will notice it?

Fio's alone today, which means she could get herself into a lot of trouble, but so far her only crime has been to track down a super-size ice cream bucket and ravage a full fourth of its contents.

What's next for Fio in this new year, you ask. Well, she wants to get better acquainted with her neighbors, finish up her adjustment to this new home and, at the same time, get out and about more so she can make new friends. And, of course, Lolly's story, as well as older manuscripts Fiorella is determined to get into print, are still hovering in the background.

2022, what a weird number, but not as weird as 2222, of which Fio will catch a glimpse only if she's marked as a reusable.

The child next door got sent over to borrow an egg so Fiorella actually will have had a bit of human contact before Son L and family return to the nest this evening. Your girl tried to make a few contacts by cell phone, but she must have been gone from the game too long because she was rejected.